SUNNY SIDE UP | rejection

Picture this: You’ve been practicing day in and day out for this big audition. You’ve spent all your free time preparing. You’ve gone to bed dreaming about it, and when you wake up, it’s the first thing on your mind.

You’re fixated, persistent, and driven to succeed. You want this to go as planned so much that you can almost see the finish line. You pour your heart, soul, time, energy, and life into this one moment. It all comes down to this one moment…. And then it’s here. And you go in, your perform, and you wait to hear the results.

And then…. just like that… moments fleet away from your very finger tips. Time slows, shifts, alters into a new reality, one you never thought could ever be possible: rejection.

You have been rejected. Cast away, Tom Hanks-style. Hasta la vista. Nothing. And what do you have to show for it? Time you can never get back, a hurting pride, a chip on your shoulder, doubt settling into your stomach.

We’ve all been there.

And I didn’t particularly know the feeling of rejection up until I quit college, moved back home on a whim, applied to my dream school, aaaand as you can imagine: got thrown in the rejection pile. Just like that. Kind of like in that scene of Toy Story when woody gets put on the Toy Shelf and he faces the reality that maybe he’s just not as fun and shiny as he thought (boy, we have a lot of Tom Hanks references going on right now, what is going on here?).

But rejection can be tough. And if you’re feeling any sort of rejection right now, whether it be for a job position, a relationship, a friendship, or anything, I want you to know that it’s going to hurt. Really badly. And it will feel as if life as you know it is crumbling for a while (or maybe that was just me; I’ve always been the dramatic type) but please know that the sun will rise, days will go on, time will pass, and your wounds will heal.

And who knows, maybe this is actually a great opportunity in disguise! Looking back, not being able to got my dream school was extremely difficult to come to terms with. And part of me still feels a twinge of sadness when I think about it. However, I have so much more amazing opportunities, experiences, and relationships that I have built that I never would have if I had gone to school.

I wouldn’t be heading down my current career path whatsoever, and I honestly believe I wouldn’t be as happy as I am today. So I can proudly say that I am okay with the fact that I was rejected. It happens to everyone. And I am a better person because of it.

Now, I can easily be objective of the situation due to the fact that I’m not currently dealing with coming to terms with something like this at the moment. So for anyone out there needing a little boost of motivation here’s some food for thought…

Remember that it’s going to hurt. And that’s okay. To be human is to feel. And thus, the good and the bad coincide.

Give yourself a few days and try not to push yourself to downward spiral anymore than you already are. You need time to heal.

Try to surround yourself with people who are positive, and will choose to uplift you in your time of need. Surrounding yourself with negative people is just as harmful as not surrounding yourself with anyone at all.

Remember that some days you are going to forget it happened more than others. And that’s okay. Don’t look the sadness and setbacks as two steps back. Think of it as taking the scenic route. You may take a little longer, but you’ll get there.

Work on finding what makes you feel the most you and do that thing. And give it all you got. And don’t stop. Just keep embracing who you are.

Don’t be afraid to lift yourself up when you need it. Don’t forget to lift others up, either.

Spend your time positively. Whether it being doing things you love, planning, reinventing yourself, trying a new approach, meeting new people, creating, anything at all. Just do it. You’ll be happier, trust me.

After you’ve had an emotional break, put yourself back out there again.

Read the above bullet a few more times. Don’t just read it though, let it sink in.

The timing of this blog is perfect! My sister is currently applying to Grad schools and she’s receiving some no’s. Failure is so hard to swallow sometimes, but its always good to remember no does not mean never =)